The soft hum of the motorcycle filled the quiet night as I rode towards the setting moon. A nice field of farmland made the scenery a bit nicer to look at as I listened to my music. In the side-view mirror, a pair of headlights trailed behind me, keeping a distance.
The surface of my stomach felt empty and cold. My back didn't feel any pressure.
Was it okay to do this? Was it right of me to come back after all these years, without her?
The sun rose as I merged into an empty highway. A small bus merged into the lane next to me and drove the same way until we reached our destination. Stardew Valley.
A young woman hopped out of the bus, arms filled with shopping bags and scurried out beyond the fenced area. Another woman was standing by the bus doors, peering in if more were coming out.
It seems like the right place. Leaning the motorcycle to one side and swinging my leg over, I walked over to the moving truck and helped unload. A small tap on my shoulder spun me around, face to face with the red-haired lady from before.
"Hi, you must be the new farmer, right? I'm Robin, the Carpenter." she stretched out her arm to give me a handshake.
I hesitated on taking the hand and shaking it, but I complied anyway.
She grinned happily at the men grunting to move some heavy furniture down and went to go help without anyone asking her. A lot of the moving men were surprised that she lifted up a furniture item with ease and happily carried it. They were even more surprised when I lifted three packed boxes and balanced them on my shoulder as I followed Robin.
"If you don't hurry, you'll end up walking forever trying to find where the house is," I called back to them. "Those furniture aren't as light as you think."
They scurried along and lifted down the heavy furniture one by one and hurriedly walked to catch up.
The exterior of the house came into view, along with clean farmland.
An old man stepped out of the house and greeted us from the porch as we arrived at the front steps. Robin and I set down the heavy furniture and told the crew we could handle the rest.
The old man's shoulders dropped as he sighed and stared at me. I stared back.
"Welcome home," he said, giving a small chuckle.
I could only look down in shame as I haven't been back here in so many years. The air around the three of us quickly became suffocating.
Robin cleared her throat, trying to break the silence.
"I, uh, was told there would be two farmers coming in today, but I only see one?"
The mention of the missing farmer worsened my mood even more.
Lewis made a cutting motion at his throat to indicate that there shouldn't be any more talking. Robin quickly took note and immediately apologized for what she said.
Here come the tears.
"I- I'm sorry." I sobbed. My throat felt swollen, blocking the words trying to come out of my mouth. "I tried to. And then," I wiped the tears from my cheeks, "I thought I could save us both."
Lewis pulled me into a hug and gave me pats on the back to calm me. Another set of arms wrapped around me too, burying my face into her shoulder.
"I tried to."
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I have re-written this chapter 4 times already. Right now, idgaf if it's bad. I WANNA MOVE ON.
